Did anyone or their kids take a "backpacking" trip to Europe when younger?

[kdonnel]

My son graduated from college in May and is now "backpacking" through Europe for the next 40 days. It started out as him saying he was going to Europe for two weeks with a friend but those two weeks grew and grew into 40 days.

He is not backpacking per se, he has a regular suitcase, but is spending the majority of time in hostels with a few Airbnb sprinkled in toward the end of the trip where it turned out to be cheaper than a hostel for the group size. He is getting from country to country sometimes by plane, sometimes by train, sometimes by bus, and sometimes by ferry.

He flew into Amsterdam, caught a connecting flight to Austria and finally a bus to Slovakia to start the trip. Over the next 40 days he will travel from there to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, spending 4+ days in each country with day trips to other countries like today to Czechia.

For 95% of the trip he will be with one other friend and for some portions of the trip there will be more friends that meet up with the two of them for short segments of the trip.

We have traveled as a family but this was actually his first flight alone as the friend he is traveling with was already in France with his family to start the trip so they met up in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was a little nerve wracking dropping him at the airport knowing he now needed to navigate his first ever solo flight as an international connecting flight that was followed up by a walk to a train station, a short train ride, a transfer to a bus, and finally a walk to his hostel, all alone.

When we have traveled internationally we always had a non stop flight to our destination. no need to connect to anywhere else. So the process of connecting from international to schengen area was totally new and not something he had observed me navigate the family through.

I would never have had the guts to take such an adventurous trip when I was his age, I am a little jealous.

He worked throughout college, saving his money for this trip. The goal is to keep the cost at what works out to $100 a day or an all in of $4000 for the 40 days.

That first day alone in Bratislava, Slovakia he ventured out into the city with people he met at the hostel as I try to imagine him having a Euro Trip style adventure rather than a Taken style horror story.

Has anyone, or their kids, done anything similar?

 

[pezgirlroy]

That is amazing and good for him. sounds great. 26 years ago I studied abroad for a semester in Toulouse France. I did a lot of traveling. Never alone as I didn't feel a 100% comfortable as a woman. I did a number of trips during my stay. Took the train down to Madrid and Barcelona. Took a bus with a huge group of girls from Toulouse to Venice (yes very very long bus ride) for Carnival. Flew down to the Canary Islands for a few days. At the end of the semester, took a train trip and went to (I think memory is almost gone) Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam and Paris.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Wow, that's a nice plan, is he going to be sharing the travel on Instagram or something?

To answer your question, no, I haven't made it to Europe and neither have kids yet because life hkeeps sidelining me but hope springs eternal. DH has seen a lot of Europe but not via backpacking.

 

[kdonnel]

That is amazing and good for him. sounds great. 26 years ago I studied abroad for a semester in Toulouse France. I did a lot of traveling. Never alone as I didn't feel a 100% comfortable as a woman. I did a number of trips during my stay. Took the train down to Madrid and Barcelona. Took a bus with a huge group of girls from Toulouse to Venice (yes very very long bus ride) for Carnival. Flew down to the Canary Islands for a few days. At the end of the semester, took a train trip and went to (I think memory is almost gone) Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam and Paris.

Neither of my kids did the semester abroad. My daughter was set for a semester in Italy but Covid changed those plans.

For a reason I will never understand my son opted to not pursue a semester abroad.

Sounds like you had a great semester!

 

[kdonnel]

Wow, that's a nice plan, is he going to be sharing the travel on Instagram or something?

To answer your question, no, I haven't made it to Europe and neither have kids yet because life hkeeps sidelining me but hope springs eternal. DH has seen a lot of Europe but not via backpacking.

So far getting pictures from him has been a challenge. I think he is having too much fun.

 

[Moliphino]

I did a summer semester abroad in college in France, that was fantastic. We had long weekends and traveled all over with a Eurail pass. Best summer ever.

 

[easyas123]

My niece is in Europe now, for a total of 3 months. She is having a BLAST and seeing tons. I'm so glad she went, she needed to get out of her parents house and see beyond our small town.
Not exactly the same thing, although our boys didn't go to Europe right after school they did travel by themselves back and forth to the out islands of the Bahamas for several years in late middle school & high school where they did a lot of boating. They loved going down there. They each also took time off of school to live on a boat.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So far getting pictures from him has been a challenge. I think he is having too much fun.

That's the best sort of reason!

 

[ABCanada]

Travelled in Europe, primarily Greece, and Asia in my youth during the $5 / day travel era so a few years/decades ago. This was before the internet and cell phone. At that time in many countries home phones were rare and you certainly did not have them in the accommodation we were staying in. I remember going to a phone exchange, handing in the phone number and waiting an hour for the call to go through for my weekly call home. Great experience for us, a bit nerve racking for our parents as they would go at least a week without knowing where we were or how we were doing.

Travelled in eastern Europe last fall and felt very safe everywhere, much safer than most North American cities. The countries he is travelling in look very safe. I am certain he will have a wonderful time, make many memories and friends and come home with a much more broader perspective on the world.

It is good he is traveling with someone for most of the trip. That backup makes traveling much more relaxing. Short spells on your own is doable but too much time can be stressful.

Our daughter went to school in Europe starting at 17. All flights required a connection. During breaks she took advantage of the location to travel with friends. We requested that she send us a text message or email, at least INDY (I’m Not Dead Yet.), when she arrived safely at each destination and initially daily. I think using INDY made it more acceptable to her as of course she felt we were being silly.

 

[NYCgrrl]

My first overseas trip started out as a one month visit to Europe and expanded to about 8 months; decided to take a cooking class in Barcelona unexpectedly and was still able to traveling the continent on weekends. Back then you could buy a 6 month Eurailpass which allowed you to jump on and off trains at will.

All in all, helped me to decide what I wanted to do with my working life. Which ultimately had nothing to do with cooking ( or pastry making, my first love) but certainly helped with discipline and organization.

My kids versions of footloose seemed to have guided at least one of them on his professional path as well.

DGD is currently wandering the US but goes back to school in August. Hope she’s finding her way.

 

[Lumpy1106]

My son graduated from college in May and is now "backpacking" through Europe for the next 40 days. It started out as him saying he was going to Europe for two weeks with a friend but those two weeks grew and grew into 40 days.

He is not backpacking per se, he has a regular suitcase, but is spending the majority of time in hostels with a few Airbnb sprinkled in toward the end of the trip where it turned out to be cheaper than a hostel for the group size. He is getting from country to country sometimes by plane, sometimes by train, sometimes by bus, and sometimes by ferry.

He flew into Amsterdam, caught a connecting flight to Austria and finally a bus to Slovakia to start the trip. Over the next 40 days he will travel from there to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, spending 4+ days in each country with day trips to other countries like today to Czechia.

For 95% of the trip he will be with one other friend and for some portions of the trip there will be more friends that meet up with the two of them for short segments of the trip.

We have traveled as a family but this was actually his first flight alone as the friend he is traveling with was already in France with his family to start the trip so they met up in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was a little nerve wracking dropping him at the airport knowing he now needed to navigate his first ever solo flight as an international connecting flight that was followed up by a walk to a train station, a short train ride, a transfer to a bus, and finally a walk to his hostel, all alone.

When we have traveled internationally we always had a non stop flight to our destination. no need to connect to anywhere else. So the process of connecting from international to schengen area was totally new and not something he had observed me navigate the family through.

I would never have had the guts to take such an adventurous trip when I was his age, I am a little jealous.

He worked throughout college, saving his money for this trip. The goal is to keep the cost at what works out to $100 a day or an all in of $4000 for the 40 days.

That first day alone in Bratislava, Slovakia he ventured out into the city with people he met at the hostel as I try to imagine him having a Euro Trip style adventure rather than a Taken style horror story.

Has anyone, or their kids, done anything similar?

My son is currently doing this with a couple of his (now former) college lacrosse teammates. They graduated in May and he has a couple of quarters to go. They flew into Ireland, spent a week in Portugal and they are currently in Spain. I know they have plans to be in London and I think Croatia. Good for them - kinda wish I had done it.

 

[disykat]

I went for 5 weeks with another single teacher friend when I was 27. No backpack but carry on only. (Even now that's really the only way we travel.) Before the internet, getting off the train and looking for a local accommodation was a common way to go. I didn't make it to Europe again until I was 54. Despite being so prevalent now, neither of my children planned a study abroad in college because of their majors and internships so DH and I took them on a "last big family vacation" when the oldest was graduating so they were 22 and 20. We joked that I went to Europe every 27 years, but I've already been back and have another trip planned.

I had an ulterior motive of pushing the trip too. My DH had no interest in traveling abroad and had never been. We went to "take the kids" and now he's a convert!

 

[HeatherC]

I did it 35 years ago! Was one of the best summers of my life. I did go with friends. There were five of us girls and we made some great memories. We flew into London and backpacked all around Europe finally ending our trip in Greece. We stayed in hotels, many hostels, and even train stations.

My youngest daughter did the same thing a couple years ago with her roommate after they graduated college. They did it a little smarter than I did back in the day. They booked with a company that provides your transportation (train tickets) and lodging with a loose itinerary. So at least your lodgings are booked ahead of time and you know where you will be sleeping. She had so much fun and is planning to do a shorter trip this October to Spain.

I am a firm believer that everyone should do something out of their comfort zone at least a couple times in your lifetime. You make amazing memories and learn and find out so much about yourself.

I hope your son has an amazing time!!!

 

[Rogue1677x]

As a thank you for tutoring her, a high school friend from Japan, her family paid all of my expenses for me to visit her and travel the country with her when I was 17.

I was there for 6 weeks and it was an amazing experience. We're still great friends to this day.